The more decisions available to members, the more ethical that society is.
When I go to the grocery store, a decision is available to me to purchase factory farmed eggs or pasture-raised eggs. Let’s consider this from exclusively the issue of animal suffering.
If our society started with only factory farmed eggs, then added pasture-raised eggs, it has given me the opportunity to make another decision and has also become more ethical.
By contrast, if our society started with only pasture-raised eggs, then added factory farmed eggs, it has given me the opportunity to make another decision and has also become less ethical.
In general, it doesn’t seem like giving people more decisions makes a society inherently better or worse. Maybe as a rule of thumb, more options is better? But mostly it just seems irrelevant to the ethical level of a society.
Note: I don’t have time to continue this discussion further, but I thought you might find this useful as you continue to explore this line of thinking.
When I go to the grocery store, a decision is available to me to purchase factory farmed eggs or pasture-raised eggs. Let’s consider this from exclusively the issue of animal suffering.
If our society started with only factory farmed eggs, then added pasture-raised eggs, it has given me the opportunity to make another decision and has also become more ethical.
By contrast, if our society started with only pasture-raised eggs, then added factory farmed eggs, it has given me the opportunity to make another decision and has also become less ethical.
In general, it doesn’t seem like giving people more decisions makes a society inherently better or worse. Maybe as a rule of thumb, more options is better? But mostly it just seems irrelevant to the ethical level of a society.
Note: I don’t have time to continue this discussion further, but I thought you might find this useful as you continue to explore this line of thinking.